Drivers for Current Immigration-Emigration Patterns in Sudan - Essay Example

?by… Sudan. What has happened in the past 50 years that would be driving the current immigration/emigration patterns? Till the Sudan was the biggest, remains one of the poorest and the most geographically diverse African country. Researcher William B. Wood once has mentioned that Sudan was a microcosm of all the tragedies of Africa (Wood 623). For the past 50 years history of the country has been fulfilled with migrations, wars, refugees, droughts and famine. Sudan has long been beset by internal conflicts. Indeed, two rounds of the longest African civil war in Sudan cost the lives of 1.5 million people; continuing conflict in the western region of Darfur has driven two million people from their homes and killed more than 200,000; famine and drought in the 1980th displaced millions; nobody knows how many lives and migrants it will take to end the south-north confrontation. The statistic of refugees in the Africa shows that Sudan is on top in the list of receiving countries with Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, DR Congo, Guinea and on the top countries of origin of the refugees with Burundi, Angola, Somalia and DR Congo (Tabutin, Schoumaker 510). I think the most appropriate way to define the immigration/emigration patterns is to solve two problems. First of all, I’ll try to show the general political and economical line of Sudan history in the past 50 years. Secondly, I’ll divine country into four border regions - north, east, west and south – and analyze each region. Sudan’s history began in 1956, after the declaration of independence from British-Egypt rule. Northern Muslims took majority in government and didn’t want to deal with South. Consequently, the first civil war has begun. During the war had happened few coups and in 1972 was signed Addis Ababa Agreement that established the Southern Sudan Autonomy. But, in 1983 second civil war (till 2005) was renewed because of applied Sharia’s law in the southern region that only strengthened opposition of South Sudan to the northern government (Lake, Rothchild 57). Emigration in Sudan has never stopped and was particularly intense during the two civil wars. These flows have been mainly directed towards neighboring African countries and to the Gulf region (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman). So, political instability provoked mass demographical emigration and intensive mass in-migration. The economic policy was very ineffective. After 1956, independent government followed the colonial type of economy by assigning more land to both public and private sectors for export-oriented production. Government created new economy on the lands that were previously inhabited and cultivated by indigenous population. Besides, many nomadic tribes lost their historical places. That’s why a lot of peasants and nomads were forced to shift their homes and styles of living to urban centers looking for food and water (Eltigani “War and Drought…” 29). Another big failure in economy of the Jaafar Nimeiri regime (1969-1985) was famine in the 1980s. In 1971, Sudan launched a plan for development to turn the country into the "bread-basket" of the Arab world (Ragnhild 202). But, instead, economy declined because of price falling on the world marker. The Sudan's few export products were seriously affected by falling prices on the world market. The uneven distribution of development activities, the drought that hit the western and eastern parts of the country during the mid-1980s also forced millions of people to leave their homes. After the Omar al-Bashir coupe in 1989, policy of islamization continued and the problems with the separatist movements in south and Darfur remained. Darfur is the western region, near Chad, with strong local elites that want more power and decentralization of the Sudan. In 2003 Darfur conflict was accompanied with mass murders, genocide, thousands of refugees. In 2005 the rebels signed a peace deal with the government to end the civil war. To sum up the survey of leading events in Sudan during the independence period, I want to repeat the aforementioned thesis: “Sudan is a microcosm of all the tragedies of Africa”. Frequent coupes, droughts, conflicts, ineffective economical policy – all together these factors made Sudan territory of numerous emigrants and immigrants for all the country sides: north, east, west and south. Northern Sudan had experienced big emigration to the northern countries since the middle of the 1970s. The reason was increasing in demand for labor by the Arab oil exporting countries in the Gulf. However, since the early 1980s, the deterioration of economic conditions has been the main push factor influencing emigration. In the end of 1980th there were between 350 thousands and 1 million emigrants (Eltigani “Understanding fertility…” 118). In 2010 about 387 thousands refugees registered with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) abroad and an undefined number of de facto refugees living and working in Egypt and other Arab Mediterranean countries (Bartolomeo). Besides economical profits for migrations such high number of migrants is also the result of tight historical relations with Egypt, community of religion and similarity of identification. In other words, for the Northern Sudan the main pattern is emigration in looking for better life in the richer Arab countries. In contrary, the Eastern Sudan is characterized by high level of both immigrants and emigrants. For the Eastern Sudan’s immigration motive forces were internal wars in neighboring countries: Ethiopia and Eritrea. In Ethiopia in the 1974 the ruling regime was overthrow by the committee Dergue and the war in Eritrea intensified. Armed opposition erupted in several other Ethiopian provinces. During the 1970-1980th droughts and wars in these countries disposed people to traverse the Sudan’s borders. In the beginning of the 1990th almost one million refugees lived in Sudan (Ragnhild 197). In the 2010 there were about 600,000 Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees in the Sudan (Bartolomeo). While Eritrean and Ethiopian refugees have been arriving in Sudan, Sudanese refugees have been crossing into Ethiopia. Devastating famine and drought forced Eastern natives to look for food in the neighbor borders, especially in western Ethiopian province Itang. According to the UN, there were about 100,000 Sudaneses who returned from Itang in 1991 (Bartolomeo). So, it is clear that the main pattern of the Eastern Sudan were immigrants from Ethiopia and Eritrea, where people were forced to escape from their countries to Sudan, and emigrants from distressed eastern region. At the same time, the main problem of the western Sudan was emigrants from Darfur region. Darfur remains one of the biggest Sudan’s problems. In 2003, armed groups from opposition in Darfur started rebellion against government. The government initiated cruel answer with ethnic cleansing of rebels and black natives. This conflict has been cause of intense forced movements within and from Sudan. It is estimated that more than 2 million persons have been internally displaced since the beginning of hostilities in 2003 and an undefined, but large number of people were forced to flee abroad, especially to neighboring eastern Chadian refugee camps (Bartolomeo). And, finally, the last but not least, - South Sudan. The proclamation of independence of the South Sudan on 9 July 2011 has not ceased local conflicts. In the 2011 the government of Sudan “gave its blessing for an independent South Sudan, where the mainly Christian and Animist people had for decades been struggling against rule by the Arab Muslim north” (8). Especially, the Abyei region remains very problematical: here is a lot of oil between two Sudan’s. People of South Sudanese origins that were in the north are continuously returning to South Sudan. According to the International Organization of Migration (IOM), as of 8 January 2012, almost 360,000 persons had returned since October 2010 (Bartolomeo). But there are still thousands who wish to return to the South Sudan. Till 2011, the main problem of the Southern Sudan was the border with Uganda. There are an about 170,000 refugees from South Sudan in the northern Uganda. Many Ugandans have been refugees in South Sudan during the chaotic regimes in Uganda during the 1960-1980th. But common tribal identities softened the displacements. Many Sudanese who had received refugees from Uganda in the 1980s became refugees in Uganda in the 1990s (Singh 253). So, South Sudan was and still remains the biggest unsolved Sudan’s problem. To conclude, I have to say that Sudan’s history in the past 50 years was very dramatic for the population. Independence brought strong separatist movements and inside confrontation between center and regions, between Muslims and Christians and between local elites. Most of displacements have arisen from the long-standing instability and conflicts. Sudan is weak politically and economically. Sudan is a standard case of different migration flows: migrants from the neighbor countries, immigrants from the poor and conflict regions. High conflictness of the central Africa produced intensive demography exchanges between neighbor countries. Indeed, only the northern region with limited resources of arable land is characterized by low level of immigrants from the northern Arab countries. The economic benefits for the Sudanese from north are the driving power for the many thousands emigration. Meanwhile, the south, eastern and western parts of the Sudan are overfilled with emigrants and immigrants from Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Chad. Both migrants were forced to leave their countries because of internal wars and conflicts. Work cited: 1. Bartolomeo, Jaulin and Perrin Sudan: The Demographic-Economic Framework of Migration. Consortium for Applied Research on International Migration. Mar. 2012. Web: http://www.carim.org/public/migrationprofiles/MP_Sudan_EN.pdf 2. Lake, Rothchild “Containing Fear: The Origins and Management of Ethnic Conflict” International Security. Vol. 21, No. 2 (Autumn, 1996): 41-75. 3. Eltigani E. “Understanding fertility decline in Northern Sudan: an analysis of determinants”. Genus, Vol. 56, No. 1/2 (Gennaio - Giugno 2000): 115-132. 4. Eltigani E. Eltigani “War and Drought in Sudan: Essays on Population Displacement” Rev. by Richard Dubourg. International Affairs. Vol. 72, No. 1 (Jan. 1996): 209-210. 5. Eltigani El, Tahir Eltigani. War and Drought in Sudan: Essays on Population Displacement. University Press of Florida, 1995. 6. Ragnhild, Karadawi. “Implications of Refugee Flows on Political Stability in the Sudan”. Environmental Security. Vol. 20, No. 5 (Aug., 1991): 196-203. 7. Singh, Karunakara, Burnham and Kenneth “Forced Migration and Under-Five Mortality: A Comparison of Refugees and Hosts in North-Western Uganda and Southern Sudan” European Journal of Population Vol. 21, No. 2/3 (Jun. 2005): 247-270. 8. Sudan: BBC country profile. Web: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14094995 9. Tabutin, Schoumaker “The Demography of Sub-Saharan Africa from the 1950s to the 2000s. A Survey of Changesand a Statistical Assessment”. Population. Vol. 59, No. 3/4 (2002): 457-555. 10. Wood William “Forced Migration: Local Conflicts and International Dilemmas Wood”. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 84, No. 4 (Dec., 1994): 607-634. Read More